The tea party movement has been nearly invisible in the intensive lobbying campaign over the fiscal cliff, even as Congress and the White House debate the issues of government spending and national debt that are at the core of the movements identity.

In many ways, the tea party was made for this moment. The grass-roots opposition to President Obamas agenda that arose in 2009 has been so focused on fiscal concerns that leaders once prevented speakers at tea party rallies from even discussing abortion and other social issues.

And in fact, it is the tea party that helped bring the country to this moment. The automatic spending cuts at the heart of the year-end fiscal cliff grew out of the tea partys fierce campaign last year to slash federal budgets and cap government borrowing.

Yet as groups across the political spectrum seek to influence any deal to avert the cuts and tax increases set to kick in Jan. 1, the tea party has been unusually  and deliberately  quiet. Members still call and e-mail Congress but have held no rallies and done little lobbying.

When tea party leader Jenny Beth Martin recently journeyed to the Capitol from her Atlanta area home, for example, she did not bring with her the bus loads of tea party members who once descended on Washington to rally for fiscal restraint.

As she toured the offices of several Republican House members, Martin barely brought up the fiscal cliff negotiations that could chart the nations budgetary future, according to Martin and congressional aides.

Her focus instead? Fighting over spending at the state level. Were sitting back on the fiscal cliff, said Martin, co-founder of Tea Party Patriots, the nations largest tea party group. Republicans in Congress, she said,

The left tried to tie them to a broad array of right wing extremism. The GOP tried to co-opt them to all GOP positions.

That’s not what attracted voters to them. The voters wanted gov’t spending cut. Their voters, some of them, may have cared about abortion, but others did not and maybe were pro choice. They ALL cared about cutting gov’t spending.

The Tea Party needs to loudly get back on point. It’s not about taxes. Raise them if you want. It’s not about flag burning. Don’t care.

It’s about CUT GOVERNMENT SPENDING. Stay on that message and ONLY on that message.

“The Tea Party needs to loudly get back on point. Its not about taxes. Raise them if you want. Its not about flag burning. Dont care.”

Most Tea Party members and sympathizers DO care about raising taxes. Taxes rarely result in increased revenue at higher marginal rates. Taxes are a way for the Left to punish its opposition by depriving the productive sector the financial resources to fight back. Tax increases are used by the Left as a justification and means for more spending, despite the fact that revenue often does not increase. Taxes are the most effective way of centralizing power. You better believe that advocates of limited government care about raising taxes.

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